"Our parents will cry themselves to death"--Amazing Race 4/19

[Julie]

The drama! The hysterics! The body slamming! The bird bites! Laughing Chinese people!

Spoilers to follow:













But no suspense at all. I know sometimes they can't build in suspense, but it seems this season has been worse than others for not allowing teams to catch up from behind. Many people complain about bunching, but I guess I like bunching.

And I think Luke was in the wrong this time. And... well... he is rather a bitch.

[jayjay]

And I think Luke was in the wrong this time. And... well... he is rather a bitch.

I disagree, but only so much as to note that I think BOTH teams were responsible for it.

Jen came up behind the deaf guy (who can't hear people behind him) and touched him on the back on the way to the clue box. Luke put up his arm out of reflex, I think. Jen calls him a bitch.

Second clue box, both Jen and Luke are running downhill. Jen herself almost runs into the clue box on her own momentum from the downhill run. Luke (who, even at my most generous, I would not call "coordinated" on uneven ground...cheese-carrying? coffin-rolling? Remember the pratfalls on both of those?) loses control on the hill and plows into her...entirely by accident. Jen then smacks him off of her.

Now, both of those should have ended with "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you/startle you!" and everyone would have been happy. But both teams just milked those incidents for all they were worth.

Now, I have to say that Margie's rant at the mat was embarrassing, but I can't just flat-out say "She shouldn't have done that." Because I have never been the mother of a disabled person. And I have certainly never been the mother of a disabled person for 20+ years. I'm guessing that there were ALL KINDS of old wounds being picked at there. Yes, it would have been much better had she not gone there, but...

I like both teams. I hate that this happened. I really hope that this rest period contained a nice, long (possibly refereed) conversation and some heartfelt apologies, because I don't want this crap to contaminate the rest of the season.

[Sarahfeena]

I think that you are right, Jayjay, about the first collision. Luke can't hear her coming up behind him, and she bumps/runs into him...he is startled, and reacts accordingly. I think she didn't think about how his perception of such incidents differs from hers, and she probably should have before calling him a bitch.

The second collision, though, I think was pretty much him retaliating, and that's a little childish on his part.

I do think that Margie's rant was a little over-the-top, but it was probably partly stress-induced. I don't blame her for being mad at the laughter, because it did seem like they were laughing at his kind of overly-dramatic emoting, which does seem kind of out-of-place for a young adult male. I'm sure it's his difficulty in communicating in words that has caused him to maybe overcompensate by showing emotion more in expressions and gestures, which Kisha and Jen probably aren't really understanding very well. So, I don't blame Margie for being pissed about that, although I do think that the girls did feel bad about it. Probably the thing that annoyed me about Margie's reaction was when she said, "she called him a bitch and you just don't do that to a deaf person!" I have to disagree with that...deaf or no, he's not above being criticized. Perhaps some of the other racers could do more to try to understand his communication difficulties, but they don't have to make special allowances if he's really being a jerk...he IS a grown man, after all.

Poor Tammy & Victor...they looked like they wished they were a million miles away from there.

Kind of overshadowed how well the stuntment really did on this leg, considering the penalties. And they had a great attitude about it...good for them!